What are we up against?

The Problem

How Severe is it?

The Solution

Learning the skills to deal with conflict in a constructive way (The 3 E's)

The Problem

America, we have a problem! You've certainly experienced in. You express your opinion online and explodes! Trolling, bullying, & insults reign and it escalates from there. That is what we refer to as the "Zero to Nazi affect." It's the length of time it takes in an online debate to go from constructive conversation to, "You're a Nazi!" This is also known as negative social categorization. It's an issue that social scientist have recognized as of recent and it's increasing!

What scientists have discovered is that the brain reacts to ideas that conflict with core beliefs in the exact same way it reacts to a physical conflict. To better understand why this occurs, click learn more below.

How Severe is it?

We live in a period of extreme concern about how we are perceived by others; social psychologists are charting a steady increase in narcissism among college students. Social scientists are unsure of the cause. Suicide rates have increased every year for the last decade plus.

Between 21 and 49 percent of youth adolescents report being bullied in the past year. Victims of cyber bullying often do not report their victimization and are eight times more likely to carry a weapon to school.

A study on workplace conflict, found that in 2008, U.S. employees spent 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict. This amounts to approximately $359 billion in paid hours (based on average hourly earnings of $17.95), or the equivalent of 385 million working days.

The Solution

While our universities may have had the best of intentions in creating "Safe zones" and limiting various forms of speech, science has shown that avoiding controversial topics, conflict, etc., does far more harm than good. Doing so creates minds that are ill-equipped emotionally to handle the rigors of day to day life.

The solution is what we refer to as the three E's. Difficult and contentious discussions should be Encouraged, Enlightening, and Empowering. By encouraging contentious and difficult debate, we provoke critical thinking, and a mind that is more adept and handling ideas that conflict with core beliefs. The end result is better students, better adults, better companies, better relationships, etc.

3) Educational content - this is our biggest area for development. We have tons of great information and insight on how to address the tremendous issues at hand but we need funding to invest the necessary time to develop out the content.